Shawn McBride, Green Grass Grace (2003)
purchase this book

Hellfire hallelujah and halitosis. Mike Schmidt sits to pee.

How you doing, fuckface? My name’s Henry Tobias Toohey. I love Jesus, rock and roll, and Grace McClain but not in that order. Can I get an amen? Can I get a witness? I come to you in the Holy Name of God, Yahweh, the Big Finger, the Eye in the Sky, He Be Who Be. He came to me in a vision and gave me a mission of love. He said: Henry, make Grace your wife. Sing to her and propose marriage in front of a wedding reception crowd. Do it for her love, for your parents to fall back in love, and for your depressed older brother to snap out of his sad sleep. Is that all, Big Fella? Not a problem. Your Will Be Done.

Good morning, St. Patrick Street. Good morning, Philadelphia. City of brotherly love. City of dead-end and one-way streets. A blossoming metropolis, center of commerce, magnet of opportunity for criminals both organized and unorganized. Home of the Phillies, Flyers, Sixers, and Eagles, in that fucking order. Good morning, Americas North, South, Latin, and Central. Good morning, Canada. Good morning, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Honduras, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Australia, Ireland, Japan, China, Appalachia, Chile, Mexico, Upper Mongolia, Outer Mongolia, Lower Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Inside-Out Mongolia, Upside-Down Mongolia. I leave anybody out? Tough break, fuckheads.

Rising Sons – The Girl With Green Eyes (download), from Rising Sons featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (purchase)
NRBQ – Green Lights (download), from Peek-A-Boo: The Best of NRBQ (purchase)
Steely Dan – Green Earrings (download), from The Royal Scam (purchase)
Van Morrison – Green Mansions (download), from Hymns to the Silence (purchase)
Buck Owens – Who’s Going to Mow Your Grass? (download), from The Very Best of Buck Owens, Vol. 1 (purchase)
Iron & Wine – Teeth in the Grass (download), from Our Endless Numbered Days (purchase)
Leon Redbone – My Little Grass Shack (download), from Whistling in the Wind (purchase)
Daniel Lanois – Amazing Grace (download), from Acadie (purchase)
Buddy Mondlock – Temporary Grace (download), from Poetic Justice (purchase)
Buffalo Tom – Saving Grace (download), from Let Me Come Over (purchase)

About the Author

Jeff Giles

Jeff Giles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Popdose and Dadnabbit, as well as an entertainment writer whose work can be seen at Rotten Tomatoes and a number of other sites. Hey, why not follow him at Twitter while you're at it?

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